CU Boulder

Large swathes of spruce forests in the Northern Colorado mountains are dying due to the Spruce Beetle. Now, researchers are linking these massive beetle outbreaks to drought. The beetles’ impact on forests has the potential to be more devastating in Colorado than the mountain pine beetle. Aspen Public Radio’s Marci Krivonen spoke with Sarah Hart, the lead author of the study. She says her team went over 300 years of drought data.

Living in the mountains, it’s easy to see changes in nature, especially in the snow. In recent years, dust from desert areas like Utah, has coated some of the area’s snowpack. Scientists in Boulder say the amount of dust being blown into Colorado and throughout the West, has increased over the last two decades. They measured calcium in rainfall to come up with their findings. Jason Neff is associate professor of geology at CU-Boulder and coauthor of the dust study. He told Aspen Public Radio's Marci Krivonen the escalation of dust emissions is due to several factors.